


I Pull You In (To Hear Your Heartbeat)

by resistance



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Best friend Allurance, Crying, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Forehead Kisses, Forehead Touching, Gender-Neutral Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Gentle Kissing, Hospitals, Hurt/Comfort, Modern AU, Shellfish Allergy, Songfic, Talking, allergic reactions, anaphylactic shock, platonic Allura/Lance - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-30
Updated: 2018-09-30
Packaged: 2019-07-20 12:03:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,596
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16136843
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/resistance/pseuds/resistance
Summary: In which Pidge finds out they have a severe shelfish allergy, and Allura hates hospitals.





	I Pull You In (To Hear Your Heartbeat)

**Author's Note:**

> Just a warning:  
> There are mentions of hospitals in this one-shot, as well as talk of allergic reactions and cardiac arrest.  
> There's also talk of vomiting and panic attacks, as well as unintentional misgendering, so please be careful when reading.  
> There aren't any helplines I can put for this one, so just take care of yourselves, yeah? If you feel uncomfortable at any point, stop reading, and let yourself calm down. Don't continue reading if it's going to trigger any negative emotions.

**Loving and fighting, Accusing, uniting, I can't imagine a world with you gone**

Allura was the other side of the city of London when she got the call. Fresh out of a morning staff meeting for her small patisserie, she'd only just had the chance to check her phone. 

"Lance?" 

 _"Allura! Where have you been? I've been trying to reach you for ten minutes!"_ His tone was panicked, voice shrill. Allura could feel herself start to worry. 

"Lance, what's going on?" 

_"You need to get your ass to the Royal London Hospital, now. I'll explain when you're there."_

And with that, he hung up, leaving a dull beeping tone in his wake. 

During the entirety of the taxi ride there, Allura was imagining the worst, images of Hunk or Shiro convulsing on a hospital bed with defibrillators jolting their body every other second. With every shake of the potholed roads, she could feel her panic building higher and higher, getting stronger and stronger. Why wouldn't Lance tell her what was going on? Why did she need to go to the hospital?

She didn't know what she was expecting, but it certainly wasn't finding both Hunk and Shiro stood in the waiting room, pacing anxiously. She half walked, half jogged over to them, panicked confusion clouding her features. 

"Shiro? Hunk? What's going on? Why did Lance call me here?" 

They both gave her a broken look, just as Lance swooped in, taking Allura by the shoulders with a gentle grip and steering her away from the two of them. "Allura, I need you to listen to me, okay? And promise to stay calm," he uttered, voice trying to be calm and soothing, but wavering just enough to make her uneasy. 

She gave him a fearful look. "Lance, you're scaring me. What's going on?"

**You locked yourself in the bathroom. Lying on the floor when I break through.**

It was then that he tore his eyes from her, unable to keep her gaze. "It wasn't meant to happen. We were just getting lunch when all of a sudden something went wrong and we had to call 911 and-" 

"Lance! Please, tell me what happened!" 

He bit his lip, crystalline tears forming in the corners of his eyes. "It's Pidge," he whispered hoarsely. "They went into anaphylactic shock, and by the time the ambulance arrived, they were turning blue," 

Lance was silently crying now, tears dripping onto the laminated flooring.

"They wheeled them away- they had gone into cardiac arrest. We don't know if Pidge will survive," 

Allura felt her stomach drop, the floor beneath her feet shift. She felt sick- like she was being suffocated by the too white walls and the stench of anti-bac. Her hand flew to her mouth, stifling the sobs that threatened to spill out. Tears tumbled down her face, bringing streaks of mascara with them. 

Without another word, she turned on her heel and walked away, ignoring Shiro's calls and Hunk's noises of protest. She couldn't be there- not like that. Not whilst her partner's life was hanging in the balance- no. She had to find a bathroom, to let it all out, prepare herself for the worst. What if Pidge didn't make it out? No. They would. She was sure of it. They were too much of a fighter to lose to something like this. 

**Can you hear me screaming "please don't leave me"?**

 

As another wave of tears spilt from her eyes, the remainders of her eye-makeup came with them, and she wiped it off hastily, not caring about the dark smudges under her eyes. 

Lance's words kept echoing in her head, taunting her, haunting her, driving her insane. 

_Anaphylactic Shock_

 

_Turning Blue_

 

_Cardiac Arrest_

 

_We don't know if they'll survive._

 

Allura felt the bile rising in her throat, and only just managed to get herself over the toilette before she threw up, the acid burning her throat and leaving a nasty metallic twang in her throat. She retched, coughing violently even though nothing else came up. She hadn't had time to eat that day, so was just hacking up emptiness, trying to hold her hair back. Her vision swam, going fuzzy at the edges and black spots appearing in her line of sight. 

There was a knock at the door that seems a thousand times louder than it was. 

_"Allura? It's Lance. Can I come in?"_

She didn't respond, instead, she lowered herself down onto the floor of the bathroom and bringing her knees to her chest. Her breath was short, and she could feel herself gasping for air. Where was she? What was going on? Where was Pidge? 

_"Allura, I'm coming in, okay?"_

Again not giving an answer, Allura wasn't too surprised when she realised she hadn't locked the door. In her haste to get away from the situation, she hadn't registered the lock on the door. The second Lance laid eyes on her, he was knelt before her, talking softly to her. 

"Hey, hey, you're okay, just breathe, alright? Breathe," 

Allura shook her head, hands coming up to cover her face. "No, no, no, They can't be hurt- I can't have let them get hurt- No- they can't leave me- I can't lose them again-" 

"Allura, listen to me, you're having a panic attack. Am I okay to touch you?" 

Somewhere, in the back of her mind, Allura mustered up a nod, flinching a little when Lance's warm hands took hers. 

**Helplessly praying, the light isn't fadin', hiding in the shock and the chill in my bones**

"Breathe with me, yeah? In, two, three, four; Out, two three four. In, two, three, four; Out, two, three, four," 

She forced herself to heave in breaths that matched Lance's, her heart and mind still racing. 

"In... and out... that's good, you've got it," 

He ran circles on her palm with his index finger- a small figure of eight that matched their breathing. In. Out. Repeat.

Eventually, her vision cleared up a little, the black spots fading. She still trembled, her entire form shaking violently. 

"There," Lance murmured, holding Allura's hands together gently. "Better?" 

Allura gulped and jolted a nod, her movements a tad robotic. 

"Are you ready to go and sit with the others? We're all worried about you," 

Another wordless nod and Lance stood up, holding out two hands for Allura to take.

He pulled her upright and into a hug, keeping her steady on her feet. "I know you're scared. I know you're afraid. But Pidge is a fighter, okay? They won't give up so easily. You just need to have a little faith," 

With a grip tighter than a steel clamp, Allura held onto Lance like he was a lifeline. "Thank you," she whispered, voice barely there. "Thank you," 

* * *

 

 

When they returned to the waiting room, Keith was there, tear stains drying on his cheeks. When Lance had Allura sat down, she waved off his 'double checking' with a sincere "thank you" and sent him over to Keith, who looked like he desperately needed to be in the arms of the man he loved. The raven immediately broke again, sobbing silently into Lance's shoulder, body shuddering just as Allura had. 

She felt a pang in her chest for all of them. Yes, Pidge was her partner, but they were a part of everyone's lives in one shape or form. She felt selfish for running away when they had stayed and waited. The doctors had said nothing to them yet, apparently, which didn't really help, but at least they weren't informing her of her lover's death. They sat in those uncomfortable plastic-covered chairs for what felt like hours, all of them with sombre expressions and sticky tear tracks marking their faces. Allura knew she had a spider-web dipping from her eyes, but couldn't bring herself to wipe away the streak marks. 

When a woman in a white coat and a clipboard in her hand stopped in front of their posse, asking for those there for a Katie Holt, Allura immediately stood up, mentally ready for the worst possible outcome that she was expecting from the get-go. 

"Are you here for Katie?" 

Alura nodded quickly, wiping at her eyes one last time. "Yes, I'm their partner. Do you have any news? Are they okay?" 

The doctor- her badge read ' _Nyma Stone PhD'_ \- flipped through the sheets on her clipboard, before showing Allura a white sheet with scrawly writing on it that read 

_Room 305_

_Anaesthetized._

"They were able to revive Katie- she's resting for now," 

The group gave a collective sigh of relief, the weight on Allura's heart reducing a little. 

"Can we go see them?" 

Doctor Nyma nodded once, twice. "Yes, but it's family only, I'm afraid. And she's been given a sedative to help with recovery, so she may be a little out of it," 

"Thank you so much," Allura breathed,  walking quickly past Dr Nyma and up the stairs, finding the signs that pointed in the direction of rooms. 

"Three-O-eight...three-O-six- Aha! Three-O-Five. I'm coming, Pidge," 

**Let me take your hand, I'll make it right, I swear to love you all my life**

She pushed open the door to room 305 gently, quietly perching on the seat beside Pidge's bed. They looked so small, so much weaker than usual, so much paler. Allura hated it- she hated hospitals with a passion. She'd lost her mother in a hospital bed just like the one Pidge was laying in, sat in just the same manner as she was, by the bedside, willing tears not to fall. 

She wasn't willing to lose Pidge too. 

Gently- oh so gently it felt like a butterfly's wing- Allura placed her hand over Pidge's, running the pad of her thumb over Pidge's wrist as a reminder that they were still there, still breathing. 

Pidge's eyelids flickered but remained closed. They were exhausted and sedated- Allura wasn't surprised. 

"'M'oky," they slurred, fingertips twitching.

Allura took their hand properly, pressing a kiss to their knuckles. "Shh, rest. You've been through a lot," 

Pidge hummed, shifting as best as they could with the anaesthetic running through their body. " 'Llra,"

They slipped back into unconsciousness, leaving Allura to listen to the steady beeping of the ECG. It was solid, unwavering-a reminder that Pidge really did survive, that Allura wasn't imagining it all. She sat like that for a good few minutes before the others joined. They filed in one by one, all smiling softly at the sleeping twenty-something.

Lance put a hand on Allura's shoulder, giving it a squeeze. "I told you they were a fighter," he said softly. Allura squeezed his hand with her free one, before letting it drop back into her lap. 

"Yeah," she whispered. "They are," 

* * *

 

When visiting hours ended, Allura offered to stay overnight with Pidge, allowing the others to go home and wind down from the day's events. She kicked off her shoes and curled up on the sleeper chair, not bothering to pull it out into a bed. She didn't get to sleep until the early hours, during which a nurse doing the night rounds gave her a blanket to keep her warm. She listened to the heavy, rhythmic breaths of Pidge, letting the rise and fall lull her to sleep. 

She awoke with a sudden jolt, regretting it instantly when her neck protested painfully. She must have slept awkwardly on it. 

"Oww, fuck," she whispered, tilting her head this way and that to ease the ache. Her hand was still resting on Pidge's, their fingers interlinked. She smiled. Pidge was still there. A fighter. 

Gently, Allura pressed a kiss to the back of Pidge's hand, running her thumb across their knuckles. The clock on the bedside unit caught her eye, reading 10:47. She groaned softly, quickly pulling out her phone to send a text to her main barista at the patisserie. 

_Can't come in today. Family emergency_

_-A_

As she set her phone down on the small bedside table, Pidge stirred, groaning softly. Their eyes flickered stickily open, shifting around the room to fall on Allura. 

Allura smiled softly. "Hey," she murmured, "How are you feeling?" 

"Let's just say," Pidge started, groaning again as they shifted onto their side, "If a prick in a Mitsubishi ran me over right now, I'd probably thank them," 

In true Pidge fashion, dry humour was their first uttered words after a hospital escapade.

Allura huffed in place of a laugh, her smile growing. "Do you want me to get you anything? Coffee, decent food?" 

Pidge shook their head, moving to the side of the bed and holding out their arms as if for a hug. With a look, Allura happily obliged, laying beside them carefully in an attempt to not shift any wires attached to them. She shuffled down a little, burying her face in the crook of their neck as they rested their chin on the top of her head.  She could feel an arm wrapped around her and a hand in her hair, gently combing through the strands with a soothing touch. 

The two didn't say anything for a while, Allura content to just lay in Pidge's arms, Pidge happy to have their girlfriend so close again. 

"I'm sorry I scared you," Pidge whispered, burying their face in Allura's hair. 

She shook her head fractionally, not daring to move from her spot by Pidge's neck. "It's wasn't your fault," she murmured back, shifting her hold on Pidge to pull them closer. "Doctors say it was an undiagnosed shellfish allergy," 

"Mm," Pidge hummed softly. "My parents were die-hard vegetarians, and I was too lazy to differ from that when I moved out, so I'd never had seafood before," 

"Which would explain why you didn't have an EpiPen," 

Allura could feel Pidge nod and then felt a soft kiss being pressed to the top of her head. "Yeah," was all they said in return. 

They sank back into a comfortable silence, the sound of the ECG coming back into focus again. Allura couldn't help but hold her breath, anticipating another round of cardiac arrest, but as every minute ticked by, nothing happened. She knew she was just being paranoid, but who could blame her? She'd nearly lost the one she loved just a mere 12 hours before. 

"God, I can't fucking wait to get out of here," Pidge grumbled, drawing a soft laugh from Allura's lips. 

She smiled. "You'll be home soon enough. And I won't let you out of my sight for a second,"

**I just wanna hear you saying baby, let's go home**

A more teasing third groan came from Pidge. "Oh no, my beautiful girlfriend is gonna stay with me all hours of the day, I'm so torn up about it," they remarked, tone dripping with sarcasm. 

"Yeah, It's gonna be torturous," Allura grinned, leaning back to look into Pidge's eyes. "Just you wait. I'm gonna earn my doctorate looking after you," 

Pidge leaned down so that their nose brushed Allura's with the gentlest of touches. "You could even wear a sexy nurses outfit if you wanted. I'm sure that would aid my recovery," 

Allura, mocking offence, chuckled, leaning up to press a kiss to Pidge's lips oh so softly. 

**Yeah, I just wanna take you home**

"Sure, whatever you want it to be," she whispered, bumping her forehead against Pidge's own. They were alive, they were safe, and that was all that mattered to Allura. The pair of them could be anywhere in the world, and she'd knew they'd be alright. 

As long as they had each other. 

 

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Written to Hold On by Chord Overstreet.


End file.
